by Ryk Brown
“Five seconds,” Luis reported.
Cameron watched and waited, her eyes, just like everyone else’s on the bridge, glued to the main view screen and the image of the asteroid as it passed by at a slow speed.
“Firing.”
On the right side of the main view screen, balls of red-orange plasma streaked away from the newly installed broadside cannons at the aft end of the Celestia. Each of the eight cannons on the starboard side fired at a rate of one shot per second, with each pair of cannons alternating their fire. The result was waves of quadruple shots of plasma energy that tore into the side of the asteroid, blasting deep into its rocky surface and sending debris blasting out into space in all directions. The barrage continued for several seconds, until finally the asteroid—which although larger than the Celestia was still small by comparison to most asteroids in the Ross 154 system—came completely apart.
“Holy crap,” Luis exclaimed. “Uh, target is definitely destroyed, sir.”
“Heat levels?”
“Nowhere near the maximum safe operating temps,” Luis replied. “We could’ve kept that fire rate up for at least a full minute, maybe longer.” He looked down at his display again. “Twenty seconds to port target.”
Cameron tapped her touchscreen again, calling up the port camera onto the main view screen. “Shields?”
“Still at full strength,” Luis replied.
“Let’s try triplets on the port cannons,” Cameron suggested. “Sustained max fire rate. Let’s see how their heat exchangers handle the increased load.”
“Triplets on all eight port cannons, max sustained rate, aye,” Luis replied. “Five seconds to target.”
Again, all eyes were focused on the main view screen.
“Firing.”
Triple shots of plasma energy began streaking away from the Celestia’s port cannons, drawing an intense red streak from the left side of the main view screen to center, disappearing into a red fireball as they struck the surface of the second asteroid. More triple shots followed, a trio every second, for nearly thirty seconds, until finally, the second, larger target asteroid also came apart, sending large chunks of debris in all directions, including a few that slammed into the Celestia’s port shields. The ship rocked slightly from the impacts, jostling the crew in their seats just enough to let them know of the impacts.
“Multiple impacts, port shields, upper and lower, stern pairs,” Luis reported. “Shield strength holding.”
“Damage reports?” Cameron wondered.
“Damage control reports no damage,” Ensign Souza replied.
“Ensign Kono?” Cameron called as she rotated her chair to port.
“Second target is completely destroyed, sir.”
Cameron continued rotating to her left to look at her tactical officer behind her, a satisfied look on her face. “What do you think, Lieutenant?”
“I think we’re going to rip open a few Jung ships, sir,” Luis replied with a grin.
* * *
Nathan stood in the Mirai’s main salon, staring out the large windows on the starboard side, as the ship passed under the Cetian orbital shipyards. The facility was similar in design to the orbital assembly platform that had been used to build both the Aurora and the Celestia, as well as the six Defender-class ships that had come before them. However, the Cetian shipyards were more than twice the size of the Earth’s old facility, with four assembly bays, each of which was twice the size of the OAP’s.
Another difference was the bays themselves. The Earth’s facility used trusses to form the assembly bays, with all the shops and operational facilities in the main pressurized structure located between the two bays. The bays of the Cetian shipyards were solid on either side, with open truss frameworks on the top and bottom of the bays. Each bay had their own shops, their own flight operations areas, their own command and control, and their own housing areas. In fact, each bay, if detached from the others, could continue to operate on its own.
“The Jung never do anything small, do they,” Jessica commented as she entered the compartment and joined Nathan as he continued staring out the overhead windows at the shipyards slowly moving over them.
“Nope, they sure don’t.”
“I heard that the Jung had been planning on adding another four bays to this facility,” Jessica added. “They’ve already begun component production for a fifth bay on Sorenson. Of course, that’s stopped for now.”
“Probably best to concentrate resources on what they’ve already got,” Nathan muttered as he watched the last bay slide out of view. He turned to look at Jessica. “Those bays are so big, you could probably build two Explorer-class ships in there at the same time.”
“That’s what they did with the frigates,” Jessica said. “Gerard told me that the two that are in there now were the last of a batch of eight that were under construction.”
“Where did the other six go?” Nathan wondered.
Jessica moved to the nearest couch and made herself comfortable in her usual unceremonious style. “As far as we know, all six of them were still in the system when we first attacked, so we probably destroyed them. He also said that although the Cetian shipyards are large enough to service battleships, their primary focus was to build frigates. In fact, all of the support facilities and component manufacturing plants on Sorenson are designed to build frigates as well. They could retool to build just about anything, I suppose.”
“Dumar wants to keep them building frigates, but with Takaran weapons and shields, and our jump drives.”
“I’d have to agree,” Jessica replied. “The Cetians can crank a frigate out in a single year. Can you imagine? Eight frigates, all with plasma cannons, shields, and jump drives, in only a year?”
“That’s if we can keep the Jung from coming back and wiping the shipyards out before then,” Nathan reminded her. “That’s got to be at the top of their agenda.”
“Well, since there currently aren’t any Jung forces within six months of here, if we keep the detection patrols going, the odds are in our favor,” Jessica said. “Besides, if the Jung do come back to Tau Ceti, they’ll come back in force, and likely glass everything. In that case, losing the shipyards will be the least of our worries.”
“Good point,” Nathan conceded as he sat down. “So, why are we here, again?”
“I’m meeting with Telles and a rep from the new Cetian security forces to conduct a security review of the facility.”
“You and Telles are okay?”
“Uh, yeah,” Jessica replied, giving him a strange look. “Why wouldn’t we be?”
“Well, you did get in his face…twice. You even threatened bodily harm…on a superior officer, I might add.”
“I was just trying to make a point.”
“Risky way to make a point,” Nathan said. “You didn’t really think you could take Telles, did you?”
“Of course not,” Jessica admitted. “I may be crazy, but I’m not stupid. It was all for emphasis.”
“Like how you tried to ‘emphasize’ your point on the bridge that day?”
“Exactly.”
“Some might call it insubordination, you know.”
“Some, but not you.”
“Dumar asked if I wanted to take corrective action,” Nathan told her, “offered to back me if I did.”
Jessica sat up straighter, one eyebrow going up. “And?”
“I told him that you’d been through a lot recently…”
“I don’t have post-incident stress dis…” Jessica protested.
“I never said you did,” Nathan replied, cutting her off. “I just said I thought you deserved a little leeway, that’s all. He did insist that I speak to you about it, though.”
“What the hell?”
“Look, Jess, we’ve got a lot of new volunteers coming in, most of which have zero military training. We have to set an example for them. A good example, not mouthing off and picking fights.”
“I’m fine,” Jessica
insisted.
“I know you are…one friend to another. But as your CO, I have to tell you to knock the shit off, or else.”
“Or else, what?”
“Or else I’ll make you eat molo at every meal,” Nathan replied, a smile creeping onto his face.
Jessica laughed. “In that case, I’ll try to straighten up and fly right…sir.”
“Attention, all hands. Prepare for docking,” the copilot’s voice called over the ships intercoms.
“Gotta say, I rather like this luxury shuttle,” Jessica commented as she leaned back on the couch again. “Too bad she’s got a jump drive. Leaves you no time to enjoy the amenities. You should ask the admiral if Alliance captains are going to get their own personal luxury shuttles.”
“I did,” Nathan replied. “He laughed.”
“How did your visit with Dubnyk go?” Jessica asked.
“Fine, I guess. It was weird, though. He’s doing a lot better than I would have thought. He’s expanded and upgraded his residence, and has a lot of regular ‘students’ now.”
“‘Students?’”
“Yeah, I thought it was a strange choice of words as well,” Nathan said. “Especially when you see how they hang on his every word.”
“What can he possibly be teaching them?”
“History, philosophy, that kind of thing,” Nathan explained. “Best I can tell, they just sit around and speculate on the causes and effects of events in the past. Dubnyk makes like it’s some kind of deep intellectual exercise, one that helps young minds grow and become more enlightened. I think it’s just a way for him to keep them coming back for more, so as to keep his accounts full.”
“Whatever works for him, I suppose,” Jessica said. “Personally, I don’t know why you keep going back to see him.”
“I don’t know,” Nathan replied. “I suppose I feel like I have to check up on him from time to time, like I’m responsible for his welfare, or something.”
The ship shuddered slightly as it made contact with one of the Cetian shipyard’s many docking arms.
“Well, you’re not, you know,” Jessica told him. “You rescued him from certain death. That’s enough. Your responsibility for him ended once you put him off the ship.”
“Attention, all hands. We have hard dock,” the copilot’s voice announced over the intercoms.
Jessica rose from her seat. “Shall we go and take a look around?”
“I don’t know,” Nathan replied. “Are you going to be on your best behavior, or are you going to challenge Telles to a duel at twenty paces?”
CHAPTER TWO
“How was your tour?” Cameron asked as she sat down next to Nathan at the conference table in one of the Karuzara’s briefing rooms.
“Interesting,” Nathan replied. “The Jung sure know how to build a shipyard, that’s for sure.”
“The place was enormous,” Jessica added from Nathan’s other side. “Security is going to be a breeze, though. They’ve got cameras and sensors everywhere. You can’t get within a hundred kilometers without them knowing, and every point of entry is remotely monitored and controlled. The place even has its own point-defense system. Not big enough to defend against a full-scale attack, but more than enough to defend against an unauthorized boarding attempt. My biggest concern is the workers. Most of them are registering as dirty on Doc Galloway’s Jung-bug detector, although very few have enough nanites in them for the Jung to turn them into saboteurs. They’ve tagged those who do with tracking chips and refused them entry for the time being, until they come up with a way to remove the nanites that doesn’t cause excruciating pain. Unfortunately, if they find too many with high nanite counts, it’s going to cut into their workforce and slow things down.”
“Any word on how long that will take?” Cameron asked.
“Nope. All I know is that they are working on it,” Jessica replied. “I just hope they come up with something soon, because we’re finding a few among our people as well, especially among the newest volunteers from Earth.”
“If the Jung are not close enough to link to any person’s nanites, then those carriers aren’t a threat, are they?” Nathan suggested.
“Theoretically, no, but do you want to bet the ship on that assumption? For all we know, there could be Jung spies all over the place, each of them with their own personal bug-control device.”
“Could we block their signals somehow?” Cameron wondered.
Jessica shook her head. “Galloway says that we can jam the communications between the nanites within the host body, which would isolate them, but she doesn’t know if that will have any negative effects on the host, since the nanites are acting to help maintain the host’s health to some extent. She just isn’t sure as to what extent. She really needs to figure out how to reprogram them so that we control them instead of the Jung. Then we can give them orders to vacate as we replace them with Corinairan nanites.”
Admiral Dumar entered the briefing room, followed by the Karuzara’s station manager, Mister Bryant, along with three other men whom Nathan did not recognize.
“Attention on deck,” the guard ordered. Everyone in the room immediately rose to their feet and came to attention.
As the admiral and his entourage moved to the head of the table, two more people entered the room. President Scott and his daughter, Miri.
Nathan remained at attention, though he was surprised to see them. He had visited them both just over a week ago, and neither had mentioned that they would be traveling to the Karuzara. His sister had mentioned, however, that she had taken over the role as their father’s personal assistant, since his former assistant had a significant level of Jung nanites in his system. It was a scenario that had been occurring all over the Earth, as well as on Alliance vessels and stations. In fact, the more Jung nanite detectors that were built and distributed, the more they discovered Terrans infected with nanites.
Admiral Dumar stood at the head of the table until President Scott and his assistant reached their seats at the opposite end. “As you were,” he finally ordered, taking his seat. “Let it be noted that Captains Poc and Nash are unable to attend, due to the demands of their current assignments.” The admiral looked at the faces of everyone sitting around the conference table, then turned to the man sitting to his left. “Before we begin, I’d like to welcome Mister Aberdin. He is the director of operations for the Cetian orbital shipyards.”
“Thank you, Admiral,” Mister Aberdin replied, his Cetian accent barely noticeable.
The admiral turned his attention back to the rest of the people at the table. “This meeting has been called to discuss the current state of the Alliance forces in the Sol sector, and to consider our plans going forward. I have asked President Scott to attend this meeting, as he is the current leader of the Coalition of Nations on Earth. Before we begin our discussions, I shall ask each of you as to the status of your departments.” Admiral Dumar turned again to Mister Aberdin. “Mister Aberdin?”
“The Cetian orbital shipyards are back in full operation once again. We have had to restrict many of our technicians and specialists from returning to work, due to the high concentrations of Jung nanites in their bloodstreams. However, since we are only operating three of our four assembly bays, we are still able to meet the minimum staffing levels for those three bays. Unfortunately, due to the number of modifications that we are being asked to perform on the frigates as well as the battleship, work is progressing at a reduced pace on the two frigates that have yet to be completed. As it provides the best possible defense for the Tau Ceti system, we have been concentrating our efforts on repairing and modifying the captured Jung battleship, per your request.”
“How long until the frigates can be completed at your current staffing levels?” Admiral Dumar wondered.
“At current staffing levels, approximately six to seven months,” Mister Aberdin replied. “At full staffing levels, possibly as little as four months.”
“Can replacements be trained using
Cetians with lower nanite concentrations?” the admiral asked.
“Building ships in space requires highly trained technicians. It takes many months,” Mister Aberdin explained.
“Hopefully, we will have an efficient way to remove the Jung nanites long before then,” the admiral commented before turning to the next person. “Captain Taylor?”
“The testing of our new broadside cannons yesterday went quite well,” Cameron began. “We still have a lot of work to do on our inner decks, including the new fighter launch operations deck, the conversion of the old fighter launch tubes into their new configuration, and the installation of the additional elevator systems between the main flight deck and the new hangar deck below. We are also preparing to install the secondary jump field generators and energy banks, once they are made available to us. However, all our weapons systems are fully functional, as well as our shields, and all flight systems. We are combat ready, sir.”
“How long until the remainder of your internal modifications are completed?” the admiral asked.
“Latest progress reports estimate thirty days,” Cameron replied.
“Captain Scott?” the admiral turned his attention toward Nathan.
Nathan leaned forward in his seat, placing his arms on the table. “The Aurora is currently in dry dock. Her nose has been opened, and installation of our mark five plasma torpedo cannons has begun. Repairs to the outer hull are nearly completed, and the installation of sixteen mark one plasma turrets on the underside of the hull has also begun. Reports from the dry dock manager and Lieutenant Commander Kamenetskiy indicate that everything is progressing according to plan, and that we should be ready to leave dry dock on schedule in fifty-five days. After that, another thirty days until all internal modifications have been completed, during which time the Aurora will, of course, continue to be combat ready.”
Nathan leaned back in his seat as Jessica moved forward slightly, expecting to be called next. However, the admiral instead addressed Captain Roselle who sat just beyond Mister Bryant to the admiral’s right.